To follow up my recent post about Building A Bloggers Business Plan, I decided that today would be a great day for me to get started on my own goals. Now I’ve had a business plan for quite a while now, but to be honest, like most of us… I’ve let other things distract me and taking my own advice. It’s time to focus and monetizing my blog, was one of top things on my list of things to do. So instead of furniture shopping with Mrs. Piss, she let me off the hook to sit down and get to it. After all, I’ve got to start somewhere right?

Pin-Point an Item in Your Bottom Line.

Monetizing is likely one of the biggest reasons people take up blogging. It wasn’t mine, but as you know a business plan is meant to change. I’ve decided that my pin-pointed focus is on improving the monetization of Piss Biscuit. Not become rich, just help it create a little more income.

Considering the numbers of blogs started, to the ratio of them still written on, I’d also say my goal is the same as many others. It’s also the number one reason for failure. Granted, it’s not the only reason, but I’m almost positive that when people realize “it just ain’t all that easy“… they bail on their blogging dreams and return to flipping burgers or filling up vending machines. Reality is for many of us, is that at some point, on at least one of our blogs – We had no visitors, no comments, no money coming in and therefore of course, no motivation.

Let’s skip to the part where we’ve built a blog, earned a little traffic, have some great commentators, and we sort of “forget” all about our initial goals… yeh, bloggers tend to get caught up in the moment too, and even making money can become secondary… blogging has some very addictive qualities… good and bad. Regain control people!

… Now that I’ve got a pretty happening little community, I can sit back and develop my moving forward plan… which is effective monetiztion… at least a little bit! I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “If I got a dollar every time…”. Well that statement couldn’t be more true and there is a way to make that work for you as a new blogger. Offer advertising. Duhhh… I know it’s stating the obvious, but take a look at your blog’s monetization efforts and you’ll see that you could quite possibly be missing out on a few dollars. I know I am, and as a part of my new mantra to make everything I do earn at least a little something, I decided to go to war with PB and see if I can’t get it to earn just a little more. Now all I need is a little focused effort.

Less is More When Setting Goals

Truth be told, making money online is no easy task… not that I actually have to say that, but for the sake of writing a well rounded article, I did any way. LOL. No matter where you are in your blogging careers, I’m sure you’ve run across the likes of some A-list bloggers like John Chow, Shoemoney, ProBlogger, and yes, even my new best friend – Vic from Blogger Unleashed.. uhh yeh… In fact, to their credit, it’s success stories like these that probably account for a significant number of blog start ups. I am not them, and neither are you, so get it out of your head that you’ll be making 500.00 from some silly “What I ate for dinner” review.

Regardless of your blogging background, grasping the concept of less is more, can mean mean life or death for your dreams. New to blogging? Awesome. Start your monetization with something as simple as charging $1.00 a week for ad space… or $5.00… or $10.00… eventually, you’ll be charging what ever you want, and people will pay it! But the value of knowing you’re getting SOMETHING for your effort is worth more over the long run, than any $40.00 advertisement. Yes, even $5.00 a week, for ad space is worth one-hundred times that in motivational value. To me and my action plan, this is the next step in checking one more item off of my list.

We love goals… but only short term ones. Long term goals are the perfect short term excuse. Remember that when you come out of the starting blocks, you need obtainable, reachable goals. Don’t set the bar so high. It’s not worth it.

Figuring Out Your Blogging Market

I’ve always said that this blog’s personality is not one that promotes affiliate products, or does paid reviews. It’s a place to come without pressure to explore the the blog world and listen to the opinions of some pretty groovy people in what I’d like to think of as an unbiased atmosphere. That said, this blog attracts a wide variety of totally awesome readers with a wide variety of interesting backgrounds. Now I understand that I don’t have 10,000 subscribers and I know that I don’t get 150 comments on every post that I write. But I know one thing for sure, and that’s PB has a community. That community is worth something to someone, somewhere. I just need to utilize that awesome attribute, and focus some of my money making attention on putting this blog to productive, profitable use. I know my market… do you know yours?

Accepting Your Blog’s Condition

The last portion of your blogging action plan, is accepting who you are, and where you are today. Self acceptance is pretty darn important. Now keep in mind, that there is a difference between self acceptance, and simply being “satisfied” with where you are. I’ve accepted my blog presence on the web and within the community. I’m not happy with it… and I accept it. I also know that I’m not satisfied yet… maybe I never will be. But accepting the fact that I’m not the biggest dog in the yard, and that I’m not richest man in the sphere, and that I really would love to find the time to redo my blog’s theme… only means that I understand the challenge I’ve now given myself. From business plan to my action plan, I’m confident of my progress.

Alright class, let’s summarize.

Create your blogging business plan

Pin-Point an item in your blogging bottom line

Focus on that item

Create an “Action Plan”

Set yourself achievable short term goals

Figuring out your market

Accepting who you are and what your blog is

Now that is a pretty kick ass list of things that any blogger, of any experience level, can do to improve their blogging agendas. In this article I’ve mixed in my own immediate goal of improving my montetization just so you can see how to apply this method to your own situations. Nothing is easy, so don’t be fooled, but with a little guided effort, even a new blogger can turn a blogging liability, into a blogging asset.

As a side note, achieving these little short term goals is a great way to get out of those blues and get your ass back into gear. It’s liberating I guess, and it’s the high of a lifetime. Without question, this article should give you a little confidence in why running your blog more like a business, is just the best thing to do on many levels. As always, I’d live to here your thoughts… so have at it and comment until your heart is content.

As bloggers we’ve got to have a bottom line right? Wrong… I think that not having a blogging bottom line is one of the major problems bloggers of today experience and something well worth a discussion. So here it is, PB’s take on developing your bottom line.

Setting Goals at the Onset

Rumors have it that 80,000 new blogs are built every day and that my friends is a pretty big number. Between the blogger that creates an account and never posts… to the blogger who puts their heart and soul into their new found dream… everyone has a different blogging bottom line. Or do they? As I’ve learned over the past week or so, everyone has a totally different idea of what it is to run an online business. Personally I’ve found it more enjoyable to build something strong and solid. Build it well. Build it with longevity in mind and reap the benefits for years to come. As a fan of genuine, white hat, organic blogging… I hardly see other options as plausible… but I’m wrong, and I know it.

The importance of setting goals at the onset of your new blogging adventure is rivaled by none. Just like a business plan is required by banks, Angel Funds, and Grant Programs, the SBA, and sometimes even friends and family… you should develop one for your online business too. Now unless you’re going after some VC (Venture Capital) or start up seed funding, it’s not necessary to have a 600 page digitized and bound business plan. I’m simply saying that you need a plan and understand what its purpose is.

Your Blogging Business Plan

Documenting your goals from the start allows you to look back and see where you were, look down and see where you are, and look up – to get where you’d like to be. What is a business plan? Sure, it can be a list of your goals. Yep, it can even be a list of things you’re going to do… but more importantly… you business plan is an ever evolving road-map to your success. In business college, you’re taught that business plans are the lifeblood of any start-up. It’s the walking, talking, living , breathing sales pitch that you’ll use to “sell” your ideas to people who have the ways and means to pay for it… I’d say if multi-million and billion dollar corporations use this model for success, we should too, just on a smaller more manageable scale.

Being flexible… is a requirement

The reality is that I don’t know any Angel Fund, or VC investor that wants to read or even approve an inflexible business plan. They all want a business plan that can move with the change in the market. These guys want a dynamic agenda. An ever changing plan that gives those who fund your venture confidence that you can handle the blows you’re going to be dealt. Now that I’m thinking of it, sounds right up the alley of almost every online entrepreneur doesn’t it?

Now what does that mean for a blogger? Glad you asked… What it means for people like us is that we are not only allowed, but encouraged to create flexible, malleable, wavy, business plans that jump around and account for not only market changes, but changes in your businesses primary asset… Yourself! Seriously people, the more and more I look at the idea of a real business plan, the more it makes sense. Seriously, how could it possibly hurt?

Do you have a business plan for your ventures? Why not?

Figuring out your Bottom line

Now that you’ve decided to take up the walking stick, and get on the road to organizing your plan… you’ve got another major hurdle to over come as a blogger. Determining your blogging bottom line. Simply put, this bottom line, should be one of only a few business plan items that shouldn’t ever change. Now this is much harder than you may think, and if you’ve been blogging for any amount of time you know that deep down in your chest somehwere, there is that little bug telling you to do something different. Hell it happens to me all the time, but I’ve GOT to stick to my guns… after all, it’s my bottom line.

As an example… and the sacrificial lamb, I’ll use this blog as an example. The bottom line here isn’t a simple one. It complex. It’s loaded with “what if’s” and “if so’s”. To keep it simple for this articles sake, I’ll say that this blog bottom line is ultimately to make me money. But only indirectly through learning through such a unique experience. I’ve been in business online for quite a few years, and I learn something new every day.

Piss Biscuit is my first blog… does that make me a newbie? Maybe… to things like Social Bookmarking, but hell I’ve bee making money online for a long time now, and I’ve always got a plan. Blogging newbie? Sure. Internet entrepreneur… No way.

I want to take the open communication and the freedom I gain from running PB and apply it to my business plans in other ventures. As many of you already know, and still others like myself learn everyday, keeping your “profitable” businesses close to your chest is an evil necessity that bloggers are forced into. Jealous rivals, spammers, competition, pusillanimous big mouths… you name it, they are after you. This blog allows me the freedom to not worry about my other ventures… what more could I ask for.

Have you thought about your bottom line?

All across the sphere debates are being started about the validity of another blogger business plan (I know I started a big one) and in truth, it’s really not fair. I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to a comparison, it’s got to be apples to apples. Period. It’s a lesson learned for me, but how about you? Do you really comprehend the differences the business plans for other bloggers? Or are you just as wuick to jump down someone’s throat as I was to try and make a point? I think I’ve read on just about everyone’s some sort of dispute in the way things are manged over the past few weeks. We’ve all got our own opinions, but does that mean someone else is totally wrong. Not at all.

The point in this article isn’t admit guilt, or failure, but to simply explain that there is more to bloggin than writing posts and calling someone stupid. It’s all about building a business using the freedom of the interenet in ways that were once never possible. With freedom, comes a mass variety of views and methods and each of us should develop our own before critisizing another. In closing, the interenet is an amazing place. I can fall flat on my face, and tomorrow be up and running again with a whole new mojo. That’s pretty cool if you ask me. So have you made your actual plan? Do you know where your blog is going? Do you know what your end all purpose is? PB’s purpose is that of communication. Nothing more, and I’m proud of where it is today.

Well people it’s about that time of the month again. As TheAffiliatePost has dubbed it… PB Syndrome is in full effect, but this time, you’re convincing is not needed… there is light at the end of the tunnel! As many of you may have noticed, posting as well as commenting has been a bit slow for me over the last week and a half. I’ve had tons of things going on the outside of the internet world that have been finally cleared up and I’m ready to dig in yet again… PB writes again!

It’s Time to Make Money Online

This evil little phrase haunts almost every blogger at one point or another and sometimes more often that we care to admit… even those of us who say we’re bloggin’ just for the hell of it. Making money Online is the proverbial dangling carrot. The national treasure of sorts. We all want to make money and when we see folks around us pushing to get their share… it sends a little jealous streak down some of our spines. I know it does for me, and since I’m not the only one who enjoys making money, I know it does for some others too.

Maintaining our Focus

We’ve all got to maintain focus. Focus on our goals. If those goals are to simply blog for self gratification, great! If it’s to make money online, great! If it’s to create videos… or teach people how to become better at what they do at their jobs, or how to lose weight… the subject matters none. It’s all about setting and achieving our goals. I personally, have failed miserably at goal setting, and have become quite the master at goal breaking. Time for a change people and I’m the first in line to do all out do it.

Cleaning House

I own more domain names than I care to think about with some costing me as little a 5.00 and some costing as much as a few thousand dollars… I’ve built or helped build nearly 600 websites in my time as a designer, and I have yet to complete a project of my own. Is it natural? Is this constant flow of negative energy good for all that Zen? I don’t think so. That said, as part of my mide year resolution, and part of my new outlook on my online business ventures, I’ve got to clean house a little bit. I’ll be selling off some of my totally awesome domains, building up my existing online businesses, and settling in on a few well appointed attempts to get my online life in order.

What’s the point in all of this?

Good question. I’d like to know from each of you, what your goals are. No… I’m not looking for some generic answer like make money… or become rich… of course everyone wants that. I want a list people… the famous list post. I challenge each of you to set your goals… post them online and let the world help you stick to your guns. Here are a few of mine:

Sell off old domains I no longer use.

Finish Building Blogg Fluff or turn it over to someone who can work it like it should.

Complete a project in which has been long time coming.

Start my online T-Shirt Store

Re-Organize Piss Biscuit

Earn 2,500 dollars a month online

Finish and promote VGA (My Latest Venture)

Create an online portfolio of my work

Build a homebase site for my freelance design services

So what do you all think? Sounds like a pretty solid to do list, but everything on it has been buggin me FOREVER! DO you guys and gals see anythign that I may have missed? Ohhh wait…

Take PB to the next level in monetization

Anyway, this is just a start, so thanks for all the input. Thanks for all the help. And most importnatly, thanks for helping me stay on track. I’ve met some great people here and I have a great appreciation for each and every one of you.

Congratulations! You’ve found the the best blog on the planet okay not quite, but we’re getting there and I’d like to offer you the opportunity to advertise on it. Don’t worry, it’s likely more affordable than you think, but go ahead, peruse the options and see for yourself.

So PB, what’s with the new rate card?

Well to be honest, I think that the blog has grown up enough to accept paid advertisements. Aside  from my own personal anxieties (Thanks to Zania for the Prozac), I’m  now convinced that taking my blog to the next level in monetization is in order. Hey, I work hard to be so cool… so you guys should all have a chance at being a part of it.

Now the biggest difference between me and the other guy, is that I only accept advertising on a weekly basis. This allows me to keep content fresh and readers interested.

Unlike the bazillion other blogs out there willing to simply sell space… I want quality material relevant to the blog world. So if you think you’ve got what it takes, I’m willing to listen. Dig around a bit, ask a few questions, but whatever you do… make sure you get your banner ad up sooner than later!

The famous 125 X 125 Ad Square

Weekly Rotational: $15.00 Only $10.00

Probably the most recognizable ad space across the blogsophere, these awesome ads are the perfect way to drive that much appreciated traffic to your website. Ive got four rotational positions that are always available for purchase.

The Big Dog 300 X 250 Billboard Ad

Weekly Rotational: $25.00 Only $20.00

This is the bad boy of blog advertisements. When using the rule of thirds, you’ll notice that this sucker falls right into one of the most recognizable positions on any blog. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s easy to see and it’s the most valuable piece of real estate that The Piss Biscuit has to offer.

Get a Sponsored Post

Single Placement: $100.00 Only $25.00

Getting a sponsored post written by yours truly is one of the best ways to get that well deserved attention you’ve been yearning for. Equipped with my personal attention, witty banter, humorous commentary, and down right blunt assessment of whatever I’m reviewing, really gets the attention of my readers. Look around and see for yourself… when PB asks for reader support… reader support is what I get. Got something good… tell me about it and I’ll gladly put up a “Do Follow” post talking about how cool you really are.

The Ugly Stick Beat down

A One Time Beat Down: $50.00 Only $15.00

Everyone loves a good bashing and no one does it better than I. I’m loaded full silver bullets and I love to fire a couple of rounds down range at worthy targets. Got something you despise? Have you been burned? Bought a product or service that flat out sucks? I know the feeling! I also know what it’s like to not be able to find the words to express it. Fear no more… let me trash something for ya with my “Ugly Stick Beatdown”! It’s lean, it’s mean, and I assure you it’s worth every penny and hey, you’ll sleep at night knowing you didn’t have to say a thing!

So you’re sold but totally lost?

Ready to advertise but don’t have a banner? Have a banner you think is a bit crappy? Sure… if you advertise for a month… I’ll design your banner for free. That’s right… free. My billable rates start at $65.00 an hour so that means you’re not only getting a month’s worth of traffic, your getting a one of a kind design that you can use over an over again. It’s win win win… Did I mention you win?

The Call to Action…

It’s pretty simple and straight forward around these parts. Drop me a line on my contact page, and let me know what you’re thinking. I can answer questions, put up pictures of dancing elephants, and even direct you to You Tube videos of monkeys flinging poo… In other words, if you can dream it, I’m interested in hearing your ideas.

Note: The prices in this post are only good until Monday 28th! After that… back to normal so get it while the gettin’ is hot!

My humble abode…

Okay so this is my desk. Loaded up with an ACER 10 gig machine, two 24 inch HP Hi-Def  180 degree rotational monitors, a Wacom tablet, assorted mice and digital pens, Mr. Potato Head, some Hydroxycut Hardcore, scented oils and candles, as well as my cup of coffee sporting a John Wayne motif.

Oh… I’m sure that you’ll also notice those fancy clubs hanging out back there too. I’m a freak for golf even though I don’t have much time to play these days… none the less, my lady went ahead and bought me a brand new set of graphite clubs to hack around with… but if you look close, you might see that hers are still in a little bit of bubble wrap… gotta get her out there soon.

One place I should visit more…

I’ve put on a little bit of weight in the last 6 months… to the tune of about 40 pounds. That’s a lot of fat my friends and that little bottle of Hydroxycut on my desk just doesn’t seem to be working as planned. Then again, maybe I’m not using it right. Oh well… I’ve got a little workout room here at the office and I keep promising myself to get on at least the freakin’ treadmill. Yeh right.

What you can’t see is how massive the dumbbell set really is. Oh we’ve got a few other goodies in here as well. Medecine balls, 50 pound punching bag, set of free weights and a few other exercise related toys… nope, never used one thing from this room. Not one.

The Conference Room!

This is the place that I close 99% of my deals… unlike other basement hacker firms, I’m proud to present clients with a warm place to write checks and view project progress. Though you can’t see the entire room from this little photo, the table seats 10 people and is accompanied by a 72 inch screen. Pretty impressive stuff.

Some things you won’t see…

The office is equipped with a fingerprint secure server room air-conditioned from the floor up holding about 30 terabytes of free space. Not the largest bank on the planet, but big enough to host the websites and databases of municipalities, banks, airline manufacturers, shipyards and a slew of mom and pop sized companies.

Adding to the servers, secretaries, office space, and modern equipment is the brand new DS3 internet line. Yeh… it’s fiber optic, cost little more than 25,000 bucks and makes T1 connections look like their sleeping.

It’s the end of the tour…

All in all, I think I’ve got a pretty awesome setup here and it shows in the work I put out. My office is something I’m proud to show, so maybe you guys and gals would like to do the same. Take a few snap shots, put em up, and let me know where I can find em… it’s always interesting to see how and where other bloggers work.

Rumors have it that The Piss Biscuit is for sale. I’ve gotten a number of e-mails in the last two days from people I do and don’t know asking about the details. I guess somewhere in this not so big sphere of bloggers, someone let the cat out of the bag so I decided to write a little post about it just to fill you guys in.

Over the past week or so, I’ve come to realize that I’m a little bit in over my head with all the things that I’ve got going on right now. That said, I did mention “in private”, to a few folks that the possibility of selling may be approaching, but at that time, I had not yet made a solid decision.

Though I’ve been so busy that my commenting, reading and of course writing has suffered, I decided it was time to make an official statement… especially after getting 8 e-mails in the last two days, about this “alleged” sale. So aside from being so busy I feel stupid, I’ve assembled a few thoughts on the issue at hand in the hope that each of you can offer up a little advice in regards to which direction I should take my old friend The Piss Biscuit.

A General Look at things

In order to some solid advice and really make your vote count, I think you all should learn a little bit more about my friend here and the progress that we‘ve made. So in the spirit of sharing, here are some quickie facts and figures for you to chew on. Keep in mind that this information is as recent as I can get and for the most part, are assembled using averages, not whole numbers.

• There is an average of 20 comments to each post.
• Averaging 179 visitors a day.
• Total visits so far this month 2,700
• 30,670 page views so far this month

Social Networks

Truth be told, I haven’t done squat with social networks. In fact, I’ve done so little it’s actually a little embarrassing. Oh well, I’m over it. As you all can clearly see, it’s time I get my ass into gear with spreading the brand. Again… it all comes down to time and energy needed to get it done… two things I’ve been missing!

• Alexa Traffic Rank: 399,625
• Technorati Rank: 378,310
• Feedburner Subscribers: 16
• Stumble Upon: 12 Fans and 7 Main Site Stumbles

Search Engine Stats

I get TONS of organic traffic from a few odd search terms. Since I’ve got no real focus or niche, it’s really hard to allocate the successes and failures of my SEO work (or in this case lack there of). So, that said, here are some of the search terms driving traffic to the my blog.

• Number one search term: The Piss Biscuit (444 searches so far this month)
• I rank high on first page for “Blogger Unleashed Challenge”
• Rank on page two for “Blogger Unleashed”
• Rank number one for “Mimbo Pro Re-Design”
• 1601 visitors this month stayed between 2-5 minutes

So am I selling out?

The answer in short… no. Mrs. Piss is responsible for this one as well as some others like Missy, Bryan, Affiliate Pizzle, and Joe Money. As for Mrs. Piss, she’s made it clear that this is my place that uses a name and a brand that I developed… why sell it? For 500-600 bucks?

Put the gun down!

No need to shoot yourselves because, no… I’m not selling yet. And even though I’ll always entertain offers, it’s more or less out of curiosity and good business practice, rather than necessity. Okay, now it’s your turn… what should I do with Piss Biscuit? Let’s here it.

Well today was rather hectic for me so I went ahead an did one of my all around general news type of posts for ya. I’ve got a little bit of everything in here so read on. Oh and by the way, due to popular demand… if anyone has some news they’d like me to share with my readers, send me an e-mail, and I’ll see what I can do for ya! A little publicity can go a long way…

The One Man’s Goal Giveaway!

As some of you all know, some of my favorite blogs to read are of those who are new to the game or just starting out. One of my favorites though, comes from Marc over at the recently purchased One Man’s Goal. He’s doing what I think is his first major promotional event and I’d love to share it with you all. Show him some Piss Biscuit love and head on over! Don’t forget to tell him who sent ya! Go learn how Marc is making money online!

Update Your Freakin Ping list people!

Over the past few days I noticed a pretty drastic increase of traffic… and clueless to where it was coming from. So going through my trustee stats page… I realized that posts were being written about how cool my blog was… and to my dismay, they weren’t being listed on my incoming links feed. After a little research I realized that other bloggers were not notifying the world of their updates when this is one of five things you do to your blog before anything else. Do yourself a favor and make sure you’ve added this in your admin panel!

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2

http://api.feedster.com/ping

http://api.moreover.com/ping

http://api.moreover.com/RPC2

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC

http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc/

http://coreblog.org/ping/

http://ping.blo.gs/

http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/

http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc

http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php

http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php

http://pinger.blogflux.com/rpc

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/

http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/

http://rpc.pingomatic.com/

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2

http://topicexchange.com/RPC2

http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2

http://xping.pubsub.com/ping

http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping

Partnership Opportunities with the famous Piss Biscuit!

I’m a freak for making money online and building my portfolio of web based real estate… but as I get busier at work, and take on more and more at home projects, I find my time getting cut to an unmanagable number of minutes where so little of anything gets done anymore. So, to help me offest my burdens, and still make money, I’m looking for some folks to help out around the house. If you’ve got some great ideas, and would like to partner up with a dynamic team of geniuses… let me know… The team is all ears! Contact Me

Well people… I’m about to let a dirty little secret out of the bag and it’s got to do with optimizing your blog’s “Header Tags” to improve search engine rankings within a week. Whoa, say what? Yep, you read it right. Unlike the hundreds of articles out there that explain the value of properly labeling your “<Header>” tags… I’m going to show you something that has literally made my company thousands of dollars in SEO optimization services.

The Value of your <H1> – <H6> tags

As most of you savvy bloggers already know heading tags (H1 through to H6) are given more weight by search engines than regular body copy. You also already should know that they should be used wisely to reinforce the page’s overall targeted keywords. That said there are a few basics that you should be aware of before starting to go bonkers with modifying your blog’s CSS Style Sheets.

Learn the “Header” tag’s true value

Today it’s pretty common practice to have theme designers incorporate the header tags within their style sheets. In fact, more often than not, their ideas are on the mark, but with a few simple tweaks, you can out rank and out index your competition. But first, you’ve got to know the value that search engines assign these little bad boys.

• <H1> = Most valuable Tag in the toolbox. Usually used for the title of a blog.
• <H2> = Second most valuable tag. This is usually found in the “Title” of each post.
• <H3> = My H3 tags can be found in the sidebar. They are bold with a little star next to it.
• <H4> = Generally unused but quite valuable and should be used.
• <H5> = Generally unused but still valuable to most search engines
• <H6> = Generally unused and least valuable, but not to be wasted.

Using the tags within your posts.

I run across COUNTLESS blogs everyday where authors don’t ever utilize the Header tag in their posts and it’s mind boggling to me. With the release of WordPress 2.5, the simple drop down menu at the top left o your editing screen makes this once aggravating task, beyond simple. Use them.

Helpful in more than one way

Look at my bright pink title above. That my friends is all it take to ass a little style and SEO love juice to your posts! It really couldn’t be more simple. I’m going to try and keep it simple so combining good design, great copyrighting practices and a little SEO fuel, here i my list of why you should use tags within a post.

Heading Tags can be aesthetically pleasing to read.

Header tags break up the monotony of a long winded posts.

“H” TagsHelp direct your readers to focus on your content.

Subliminally gives anxious readers small achievable goals.

Allows you to re-enforce staple points of your post

Add content space to what my be a short post.

Allows you to insert relevant keywords & phrases

Cuts out the trashy “self spamming” routine

… and those are just to name a few. I kept the list short, because that’s not really what this post is all about. So without further ado, here’s my little secret that can change the way spiders look at your site forever!

Re-Styling your <H> tags!

The look and style of your “Header” tags are controlled within you blog’s main style sheet. Usually, named style.css. Now I’ won’t go into lessons of coding CSS because every design is different, but I will tell you that with a few simple tweaks, you can add even more punching power to your posts. How? Ha ha…. just restyle them to match your body text.

Choosing the right tags to alter

Since the <H4>, <H5> and <H6> tags are almost ALWAYS under utilized, we are going to start with those. The idea is a simple one. Edit your last three available head tags to mimic the style of your body text. Huh? It’s easy I promise! Here is an example of body text I’ve got:

body{
color:#333;
font-family: Georgia, “Times New Roman”, Times, serif;
font-size: 11px;

As you can see the color of the font is not quite black, the font is Georgia, and the size is 11pts. Now we want to locate the <H> tags within our style sheet and modify them to match. For this example… here is an existing <H6> tag that we are going to re-style:

h6{
margin:5px 0;
padding:0;
font-size:12px;
color:#333

As you can see there are quite a few differences. But your job is to make the <H6> identical to the <body> tags and don’t worry It’s as easy as a little cut and paste… here is the final code!

h6{
color:#333
font-family: Georgia, “Times New Roman”, Times, serif;
font-size: 11px;

Now you’re locked an loaded! Save the file, upload it back to your server and start blogging using this little trick in every one of you posts. Choose your three main keywords and key phrases and order them according to what you find their value to be. The most important words and phrases for you blog should be assigned <H4> and the least important should use <H6> tags. But be consistent! Use the same tags, for the same words and phrases!!!

Some good advice to follow

Now that you’re done writing your awesome post, go back through it, highlight your target copy and simply choose the appropriate tag from the drop down that WordPress oh so graciously provides us (2.5 and higher)…. that’s it! Oh and one thing to remember… using tags is like steroids… DON’T over due it. A handful of tags is worth more than a post loaded with keyword spam (A good example of self spamming) Keyword spam might make you feel good now, but within weeks, you can quietly disappear off the grid and never be found again. So get out there and tweak that CSS!

If you thought this was informative… Stumble it for me, it only takes a sec… and if you’re really feeling randy… comment on it for me!

Click here to make your Google rankings last a LIFETIME…

Okay guys and girls… I’m in a bind here and need a little help! Yeh, it’s one of those posts that we all dread but I’ve just got to ask. As some of you might know, Bryan Clark’s Site Flipping contest is well on it’s way… I’m in it to win it… but my problem… I have NO CLUE what my new blog should be about, and the clock is ticking. My heart is here at PB… and anything that REALLY inspires me, I want written for this blog, not one I’ve got to sell in 27 days!

The original idea

As most of you all know by now, I work some pretty hectic hours at my day job so finding not only the time, but the inspiration to make a salable blog in under thirty days is a tough nut to crack. None-the-less, I’m going to get in there and do it… or at least I hope so!

My original idea was to create something that I would not have to personally update everyday so that I can focus my attention here at PB, work, and on all my new premium themes I’ve been working on. Did I mention that I’m working on acquiring a new online business too? Yep, I’m nuts. But the goal behind Blog Fluff was to be fun… fun and profitable. I’ve gone from classified ads for bloggers, to private blog messaging, to ope source link building, to satirical cartoons and other random bits. Have a look… it’s a picture of “Vic” with his hand in a goat’s ass for God’s sake!

I’m swamped and feeling a bit dizzy.

With so much going on and so many hands in the cookie jar, I’m finding it hard to keep a focus on my goals. PB is growing at a staggering pace for being so new… I get nearly 10 new inquiries ever day about custom WordPress themes… and my nerves are shot! I really need some help!

Here are the competitors!

In no particular order, here are some of the competitors for the contest. Some folks like AP are already on a roll talking about Reggae… and still some others are about as far along as I am. Bryan has confirmed the following so take a look at some of the great ideas and themes…everyone is being creative! Everyone but me! LOL…

http://blogfluff.com

http://acthighbrow.com

http://traveltipsdigest.com

http://gogreenlifestyle.net/

http://reggae-artists.com

http://bloggerssearch.com

http://frugalzeitgeist.com/

http://www.professorprosperity.com/

What do you think?

So there they are in all their glory! What on earth am I going to do? Blog Fluff… I thought it was a cute little name… and I really thought my concept would work… but at this point I’m realizing it needs an immediate overhaul. Suggestion… comments… anything is welcome and greatly appreciated so let’s here ‘em!

After some serious back and forth debate amongst my peers, and a serious look at what I’m up against, I’ve decided to respond to Vic from Blogger Unleashed. I know through both comments and e-mail… this response is well anticipated. I’ve taken the time to not respond in an unpleasant manor, but in a manor that is deserved. So without further ado… here we go. I’ve linked dictionary.com to certain words I feel you may have a small deficiency in understanding so please, by all means feel free to click them for a more clear understanding of this letter.

The Official Reply

Vic,

I’m writing you today in response to the rude, crude, arrogant, self centered, pusillanimous e-mail you sent me the other day. I’d like to just take a moment to let you know that I harbor no ill feelings towards you as I am sure that you cannot help being so insecure. Your mental instabilities that were once questionable in my book are in deed now certifiable, so for that, I commend you. It takes courage to step out of the box, and show the world the inferior side of ourselves… and you my friend nailed it. 10 points an a sympathy vote earned.

You missed my point

In regards to my initial inquiry, I was simply being amenable to the possibility of a future challenge of sorts. However, you’ve haphazardly taken my offer, and turned it into a conquest. A Crusade of sorts… to rid the blogging community of useless amoeba like yourself who seek to do nothing more than destroy the very community that has made you the person you are today.

You abuse those who made you

Frankly Vic, it’s a bit pathetic. It’s pathetic, that people like myself… look at “self proclaimed business men”, like you and wonder what it would be like to be afforded the opportunity that you have been given. You no longer can be trusted to hold a valuable opinion after this awesome display of professionalism. You’re fake comments of gratitude towards your fans is a total joke… as you have now shown your community what you think of us… and yes… when you spoke to me… you spoke to everyone who is like me. It is obvious by your reply that you hold no regard for the people who put you on that podium you squat so proudly in front of.

Listening to you is suicide

You’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and I feel sorry for those who follow you with such passion and intent. They have no clue who you really are, but I sir, have gotten a taste… it is rancid. You my friend are a glutton. A greedy little man pissed at the world for not being cut out to live amongst the people, and survive in the real world. I Congratulate you for finding your curtain to hide behind… Ha ha, the best pat is that it’s behind the safety of a sandboxed XBox360 website. Wow.

I need to address “Son”…

Vic, I’m not sure if it’s a limitation in your vocabulary or simply a comprehension deficiency due to old age, but I am not your son… and I don’t appreciate being called such. In fact… it’s a bit demeaning, but I’m sure that was your intent. So, please correct that and address me as PB… got it “pops”?

In a league of your own

You made it quite clear that you feel as if your in the major leagues, while I’m still in line for a dizzy bat contest. Fair enough, but I find it interesting that you assume you know something about the work that I do… or that I have done. I also love how in all of your genius… you really think I’m dumb enough to let the cat out of this bag… LOL. Yeh!

Your “early judgment” is what the real world marketeers call a fatal flaw “pops”. You’ve sized up the enemy before you even know where the war is… ask Napoleon about that. But for a guy with 800 websites… having 8 worth mentioning is piddlings in my book so I’m really not impressed. In fact, if they are anything like your Xbox site… Wow, I see why you’d need 800… hedging your bets on a few would be to risky. the spamming of hundreds on the other hand… remarkable.

Your amazing 1% success rate

You made it clear that this is a topic on SEO not making money so personally, I’d rather have 10 sites with only 5 SEO worthy ones worth mentioning. That would be a 50% success rate. Sounds like your teaching some pretty good stuff over there at “Blogger on a Leash” if it’s okay for 1 in a 100 sites to be a winner… that my friend is 1% success rate… but wait… only 7 or 8 good ones in you “cluster”! There is something wrong with that picture for sure.

Playing by fair rules

Vic, I almost said it’s not worth fussing with… then I thought about taking your challenge, your pride, your ego, and your money… hell let’s up the anti… I’d want your blog too. None of this should be any problem at all considering you are so confident in your win.

In the end Vic, I’m more that willing to take the “pops” challenge… make it interesting and include Blogger Unleashed while your at it. If you want to play fair and show off those skills… I’m game. Hell I’ll even come to Vegas. From here… I’m open to discussion, but we are both very busy… so let’s not play games. You want my 20 grand? You’ll earn it fairly… if I want yours… I’ll earn it fairly.